Puppy Love
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "What do you want?" I demanded, stopping in my step to glare at the younger boy. The shorter boy looked up at me with a small smile; why was he always smiling? "Well?" "I wanted to talk to you about something," he explained. "Since when were we friends?"
1. Puppy Love

_SECOND YEAR_

The portraits that filled the school were bloody nosey. They liked to interfere with the business of the students and I just happened to become the target of their interest. The portrait, one of the many whose names I couldn't remember, was trying to find out why I had been sneaking around the school last night, long after curfew. I had insisted that I was feeling peckish but the stubborn portrait wouldn't accept that. She had concocted some outrageous plot that I had snuck off to meet my 'forbidden beau with the red and gold tie'. I was left staring at her with barely concealed annoyance.

Firstly, I was a second year. And secondly, I had no 'beau' – let alone a Gryffindor one at that. What was it with the portraits and the appeal of a 'forbidden' love affair between a snake and a lion? Salazar, it was enough to turn the stomach.

"You really love a good story, don't you?" I asked with a slightly incredulous smile.

"Of course I do," the painting of the elderly woman defended, letting out a startled noise of surprise when a flash illuminated the corridor.

I turned suddenly, towards the flash to find a first year Gryffindor standing in the corridor, camera held aloft. My lip curled; of course, a Gryffindor. He gave a slightly sheepish smile, lowering the camera and approaching us.

"Did you just take a picture of me?" I asked suspiciously, reaching a hand out to forcefully delete the picture. He hurriedly held it away from me and I narrowed my eyes, "So? What do you think you're doing?"

"I was just taking a picture," he insisted innocently and I crossed my arms.

"And _why_ did you take a picture of me?" Raising an eyebrow, I watched the fair-haired boy shuffle on his feet. "Well?"

"I liked your expression," he responded simply, taking me by surprise.

"You liked my _expression._ "

He nodded absentmindedly, looking to the camera he held between his hands. I watched as he perked up suddenly, looking between me and the camera. If he asked to take more pictures of me –

"Do you want a copy?" he asked excitedly, "I think it turned out pretty well."

"Do I want a _copy_?" I repeated, wondering why I had been reduced to repeating everything he said.

He nodded, looking a bit like a hyperactive puppy. "I can copy one for you if you want. With magic – because I didn't know you could do that before."

He was muggleborn, I realised with a start. My eyes drifted over him with a slight frown. Father would kill me if he found out –

"Keep the picture," I declared loudly, halting him mid speech. He frowned, looking like he was going to object. "Let me give you some advice –"

"Colin. Colin Creevey –"

"Let me give you some advice Creevey, don't go around taking pictures of random students." My eyes narrowed in on the tie looped around his neck, "Especially not Slytherins – I can't promise that they would all respond as … amicably as I have."

With that, I turned away from the first year without bothering to see the way he responded to my words and continued on my way to the great hall. Heading to the Slytherin table, I settled down on the other side of my brother.

Theo frowned as he turned to look at me. "You snuck out after curfew."

I let out a sigh, buttering a slice of toast as I cast a glance to my dormmates. "Which of them told you?"

"Does it matter?" he demanded quietly, spooning some eggs onto my plate.

"Drop the older brother act Theo," I said coldly, narrowing my eyes at him. He certainly liked to act like my brother only when it suited him. "You're minutes older than me. Minutes."

"He's only worried about you," Draco defended from across the table, eyes flickering between Theo and me. His eyes settled on mine, a smirk tilting the corner of his lips upwards. "Some of us are worried about you."

"Oh, can it Malfoy," I muttered, eyeing him dirtily, "You can stop your prepubescent attempts at flirting. Don't you remember the stinging hex I threw your way when you tried to hold my hand?"

The Malfoy heir grumbled under his breath and returned to his breakfast, not seeing the fierce glare Theo had aimed at his head. Honestly, they were all so predictable. Right now, Malfoy felt scorned because he was one of the few members 'on my side' after my most recent argument with my brother. But, I wondered as I took a bite of my toast, would he be on my side when he found out what the argument had been about? Would any of the house?

Theo had been in the common room, talking loudly to Zabini as he spoke about wishing that the muggleborns were eradicated by Slytherin's monster. In that second I had seen so much of our father in him that I hadn't hesitated to send a hex his way. _That_ had been the basis of our argument.

* * *

 _THIRD YEAR_

Even with Professor Snape's blatant favouritism, I was barely achieving passing marks in Potions. Theo was having a field day. Potions had always been his best subject but I guess it made sense that _he_ was barely passing _my_ favourite subject. I guess that was fair, in a way.

Theo who had been walking beside me towards our next lesson, looked further down the corridor before letting out a sound of annoyance. At my inquisitive look, he gestured with his head to the approaching second year.

"Your shadow's back," he explained and I followed his eyes to see Creevey rush towards me after having exited a classroom.

"Salazar," I cursed under my breath, "what does he want?"

"Whatever it is, I'm not sticking around to find out."

Ducking away from me, Theo ignored the calls I gave to him and rushed away from me. Narrowing my eyes at his back, I thought spitefully that he was _some_ older brother. I seriously contemplated running the other way to avoid Creevey who was calling out for me and waving to me. Merlin, even if I did manage to run away he'd probably run after me.

Resigning myself to my fate, I slung my bag further up my shoulder and continued walking slowly. He'd follow after me anyway. Creevey dropped into step beside me, and walked beside me as if he had no class to attend. Our silence lasted a few minutes before my patience snapped.

"What do you want?" I demanded, stopping in my step to glare at the younger boy. The shorter boy looked up at me with a small smile; why was he always smiling? "Well?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he explained.

"Since when were we friends?"

He acted as if I hadn't spoke, "Apparently you came to visit me when I was in the hospital wing?"

I narrowed my eyes; when I found out who had told him then I was going to hex them into the hospital wing. Sure, I had visited in the hospital wing because I'd noticed that he hadn't followed me around for a while and when I'd asked if anyone had seen him, Malfoy of all people had told me that he'd been petrified. And out of the goodness of my heart, I had gone to see him only for the 'golden trio' to wander into the hospital wing and see me by my bedside. Within seconds they had decided that I was potentially the 'heir of Slytherin'. I was left wondering the depth of Gryffindor stupidity.

Clearing my throat, I focused back on the boy who was watching me patiently.

"Don't joke about something like that." Dismissing his words, I continued on my way and noticed briefly that he continued to walk with me.

He protested, sounding a little upset that I was dodging the question, "I just wanted to know the reason why."

"Look, Creevey –"

"Colin –"

"I was just curious about why I hadn't seen you following me around for a while." Levelling him a firm look, I hoped to crush whatever blooming romantic feelings he had for me. Merlin, how did Gryffindors manage to hide anything when this kid had his attraction written all over his face? "That's all there is to it."

He nodded to himself and I thought myself successful. I was too quick to judge.

Moments later, he perked up and asked brightly, "So you missed me then?"

"Salazar," I groaned aloud, but Creevey paid no heed to it.

"Do you want me to take a picture of you?" he offered suddenly, taking me by surprise. He gestured for me to stand still, rifling through his bag to pull his camera out. "The lighting's hitting you just right."

I blocked the camera before he could take a picture, making him frown at me. My eyes scanned the corridor, looking for an escape route which was given to me in the form of Saint Potter. Thanking whichever deity was listening to me, I looked back to the younger boy who was waiting for me to remove my hand so he could take my picture.

"No thank you – I _really_ don't need you to take my picture." Pointing behind him, I watched him glance over his shoulder, "Look, Potter's over there. Why don't you go and ask him if he wants a picture?"

Creevey seemed appeased by the suggestion and I hurried away from him before he could turn his attention back to me. Salazar, what exactly had I done to deserve this fair haired, camera wielding, smiling shadow?

* * *

 _FOURTH YEAR_

I had yet to find a solution to my shadow. But could I still address the eldest Creevey as a shadow when he had long since stopped lurking behind me? He was more courageous than I was comfortable admitting. He had no problem with walking up to a group of older Slytherins to talk to me. Of course, he had been ridiculed in the beginning for trailing after me like some love-sick puppy but a killer glare had silenced them all but maybe that was more attributable to Theo's threat to hex anyone who picked on me?

Creevey was under the false impression that we were friends – we weren't. But that didn't stop the boy from approaching me when I was in the library, busy working on a Transfiguration project. He settled himself in the seat across from me, waiting patiently for me to give him my attention.

"What is it, Creevey?" I asked, briefly looking up from the parchment that I'd been writing on.

"Did you hear about the yule ball?" he asked quietly, taking me by surprise. The movements of my quill slowed as I recognised how potentially dangerous this topic was.

"What about it?" I asked lightly, as if the topic held little to no importance to me. Setting my quill on the table, I looked up to the younger boy who fidgeted a little under my eyes. Surely, he couldn't –

"It's fourth year and above." Peeking away from me, he cleared his throat, "But younger students can go if they're asked by an older student."

"I already know that," I pointed out coldly, and perhaps a little more cruelly than necessary. But, honestly, hadn't we been over all of this already? I thought I'd nipped this little issue in the bud. "What did you want from me, Creevey? I'm a little busy so I should get going?"

I had left my work midsentence but getting away from situation currently appeared to be of more importance than finishing it. Rolling my parchment back up, I hurried to tidy my things. The sight of my packing up seemed to snap the boy out of whatever stupor he had fallen into as he sat up suddenly. Leaning across the table, he put a hand on top of mine, stilling my movements. I screwed my eye shut for a moment; I had been _so_ close.

"What?" I asked quietly, looking up to his face, "I need to get going so you should probably hurry up."

"Who are you going with?" he rushed out. Merlin, he'd done it. I'd thought that playing oblivious to his intentions would make the younger boy back off. It was certainly a kinder approach than hexing him like I'd done to Draco back in second year when he'd started to act like Creevey currently was.

"Who am I going with?" I continued to act ignorant. "To where?"

But Creevey was having none of it. He asked back, just as quickly, "To the yule ball?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Dodging his question, I pulled my hand away from under his and continued to pack my things, preparing to make a quick getaway at the first opportunity. Creevey remained resolute, staring into my eyes. I sighed, "Draco asked me and I said yes."

Of course, I hadn't said yes the first time. I'd flat out turned him down but when he'd grovelled and confessed that Parkinson was trying to corner him, I said no again. Then he'd gone and promised me to have some of my favourite pastries shipped in from France – enough to last me the rest of the year and I agreed. But I saw no reason to tell Creevey any of that.

My answer had him faltering slightly, looking like he'd been struck. I stopped attempting to leave, wondering why I felt a little guilty when I hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, this was all _his_ fault for developing a crush on me. Who went and told him to do that? But this was fine. A crush I could deal with, as long as it developed no further. I'd just have to stop it before Creevey found himself in the earlier stages of puppy love. Merlin, why me?

"I'm really sorry Creevey," I had no idea why I was apologising, "but I'm going to need to go?" Edging around the boy, I continued on as if I'd been possessed, "I'll see you later?"

He nodded slowly, looking down at the ground. Now that wouldn't do. As I drifted past him I allowed my hand to briefly run through the hair at the back of his neck. The single action had him smiling and I hurried away before I did something so incredibly Hufflepuff and smiled back.

The moment I entered the common room, I crashed down beside my brother who was startled by the action. Theo frowned, reaching out to feel my forehead for a temperature.

"What's the matter with you?"

Pushing his hand away from me, I asked, "How do you get a boy to stop crushing on you?"

"Well," he drew the word out, "in your case, I'd just act like yourself. That should be repulsive enough."

I decided to give him no response. Instead I snagged a pillow from behind me and attempted to suffocate him with it.

* * *

 _FIFTH YEAR_

My fifth year at Hogwarts marked a change in the dynamic of my relationship with Creevey. It was the first time I approached _him._ But I didn't exactly do it from the goodness of my heart. There was something I needed from him so I had resorted to doing the unforgivable – flirting with him – to get what I wanted. Defence had always been my favourite subject, my strongest one and Theo's weakest. But the cow of a teacher that we had been given, was depriving me of it.

Rumour had it that Potter was running a secret club where they were bring taught all the stuff that Umbridge was refusing to teach us. Now I only needed to find out where this was being held and see if I could get myself invited. And if that took using Creevey's feelings for me, then that was forgivable, right?

Oh, who was I kidding? Of course it wasn't. But I had long run out of options.

"Creevey," I called out as I approached the younger boy who was so shocked by me approaching him that he stopped in his step, waving his friends away.

"I- what are you doing here?" he asked, a little flustered as I came to a stop in front of him.

"Can I not be here?" I teased, smiling and shifting the hold I had on my books. He took them off from me, like I knew he would and seemed a little shell-shocked by my smile. Merlin, he was making this so easy.

"That's not what I meant," he protested, bending over backwards to make amends to what he had said.

"Colin," I called out gently, reaching out to put a hand on his arm. Eyeing him closely, I saw the immediate reaction to the use of his first name as colour rushed to his face and I regretted touching him when it looked like he was going into sensory overdrive. "I'm only teasing."

He cleared his throat, managing to compose himself in seconds and unknowingly impressing me in the process. "Can I help you with something?"

"There's actually something I need from you," I said hesitantly, linking my arm through his as we began to walk towards the Slytherin common room. I almost faltered in my step, feeling my heart thump against my ribcage and frowned. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was meant to be a one-sided thing.

"You need something from me?" he questioned quietly. "I don't see how I could be of any help to you."

"Don't put yourself down," I said instantly, reverting to my normal tone for a second before remembering what I was trying to do. Softening my words with a smile, I looked to the boy who was now the same height as me. He met my eyes and coloured a little again before looking away from me to clear his throat again. "There's this rumour going around that Potter's running this secret club."

He froze instantly, going to pull his arm from out of mine, "I don't know about that –"

"Please Colin," I said earnestly, tightening my hold on him. Turning to face him, I played with his tie as I stared up into his face. The poor boy, ruled by his hormones, looked torn as I said quietly, "Please Colin, I _really_ want to learn. Defence is my favourite subject and it's killing me that I'm not learning anything."

"I want to help you," he said back just as quietly, "I _really_ do but you should talk to Harry about this."

"He won't trust me," I answered back instantly, "No one's going to trust me but you."

My first name left his lips hesitantly as he looked torn. Letting out a breath, I stepped towards him and was completely unprepared for the rush of awareness that filled me. Of all the inappropriate times to become attracted to him –

"I need you," I pleaded, turning into him and making sure he felt my chest brush against him during the motion.

Salazar, he looked like he was going to faint. Biting my bottom lip, I pondered stepping away from him. I felt really uncomfortable doing this to him but I dismissed the guilt. He was a fourth year, driven by his hormones. No matter how much I tried to rationalise it, I still felt no better.

"You'll bite your lip raw again," he muttered quietly, using his thumb to pull my bottom lip out from beneath my teeth. Clearing his throat, he stepped away from me and thrust my books back into my arms. For a moment I thought I'd gone too far when, "We're here. I'll talk to Harry."

"Thanks," I said genuinely, running my hand through the hair at the nape of his neck as I brushed past him to enter the common room. He sunk into the familiar action as it had been, until this day, the only contact I allowed between us. But it was something I did often to comfort him and somehow, it comforted me too.

As I stepped into the common room I wondered whether all fourth years were so easily manipulated or did the fact that Colin had feelings for me make him more susceptible?

For the rest of the day the feelings of guilt wouldn't leave me. Not even when I received a message from Colin who'd spoken to Potter and had managed to get me invited to become a member of 'Dumbledore's Army'.

Salazar, what a name.

* * *

 _SIXTH YEAR_

Theo had narrowly managed to escape being branded with the dark mark. He had sprouted some rubbish about being more use unmarked and undercover. He claimed he could get more of Dumbledore's trust that way and somehow that rubbish had worked. But I was grateful to him, by doing so he had made sure that there was no need for me to be marked either. When I had asked him why he had stood up to the Dark Lord, he had said that he knew I would rather die than get the mark or see him marked. I had never loved my brother more.

Draco hadn't been so lucky.

Salazar, the entire common room had been submerged in angst with the undercurrent of terror and I had never felt so helpless. Even the younger students had known something was up and had resolutely taken to avoiding our group of sixth year students.

Picking at the blades of grass under me, I wondered whether I should have gone to speak to Dumbledore about it? That would only likely get me in trouble, especially if father found out. I was pulled from my thoughts when someone settled beside me, nudging me with their shoulder.

"What's got you so concerned?" Colin asked quietly, leaning over to steal the blade of grass from my fingers.

I turned to look at him, really taking in his features. He had grown up more in his summer away from school and I physically had to look up to him when we spoke now. No matter how much he physically changed he remained the same as he always did, willing to give me a listening ear. But this was one thing I couldn't share with him.

"It's nothing," I assured him.

He didn't believe me, staring into my eyes for a moment but he didn't press the matter. Turning back to look out into Black Lake, he played absentmindedly with the grass he had stolen from me. I sighed, leaning into his side and resting my head on his shoulder. He didn't comment on the uncharacteristic action; from the beginning of the year he had known that something was up but he hadn't pushed me into telling him. It was one of the things I loved about him.

"Colin?" I called out quietly, letting my eyes shut as I rested against him. This entire pretending to be on Voldemort's side business was tiring.

"Hmm?"

"You always told me that I think too much – how do I stop that?"

He reached over to take one of my hands in his. Opening my eyes slowly I watched as he rested our joined hands on his thigh. "You need to do something to get your mind off of whatever's troubling you. That is, if it's something you can't deal with straight away?"

"It's not." Sighing against him, I stared down at our linked fingers. I couldn't even summon the restraint to pull away from him. "What should I do to distract me then?"

"Let me distract you," he offered hesitantly, "Let's go down to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

I was forced to pull away from him then, straightening up. He brought his eyes carefully to mine, anticipating the rejection he knew I was going to give him. Pulling my hand from his, I tucked some of my hair from behind my ears.

"Hogsmeade is out of the question," I said gently, seeing the way his face fell even as he tried to hide his disappointment. "But why don't we stay together tomorrow? By the Black Lake with a picnic, or something?"

My offer had him frozen for a few seconds before he was grinning at me. Neither of us had expected me to give in and my suggestion had taken us both by surprise. But Colin was going to take me up on it before I could change my mind. Except I didn't want to. Heading into Hogsmeade meant that there was a chance that word would get back to my father that I was hanging around with a muggleborn boy and a target would have been painted onto Colin's back. This way he was safe.

Without a word, I settled back against him. Setting my head on his shoulder, I stared out at the lake. Colin was the one to break the silence with a confession.

"I like you."

His admission wasn't a surprise. This was the tenth time he'd confessed to me? Or was it the ninth? Either way, it was no surprise, just like the first hadn't been. He didn't expect a response from me, he never had. Instead he was content to remain in silence. I wasn't in a position to give him a response.

Lifting my head from his shoulder, I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before returning to my position.

* * *

As planned, I met Colin by the Black Lake as the rest of my house hurried down to Hogsmeade. The whole picnic idea had been a throwaway comment as I rambled on but he had apparently taken it to heart. Approaching the lake, my eyes settled on the visibly anxious fifth year before moving to the blanket he was sitting on and the picnic basket beside him. Now wasn't that adorable?

"What's all this?" I asked pointlessly as I drew closer to him.

He scrambled to his feet at the sound of my voice, gesturing for me to sit. "You said you wanted to have a picnic?"

"It was just a comment, Colin." Unable to stop myself from smiling, I settled down beside him and watched as he did the same, watching me nervously.

Maybe spending time with Colin was the right way to distract myself from the dark truth of the world I'd been thrust into? His presence alone managed to relax me in a way that no one else's did and whilst that would have unnerved me mere months ago, it was now something that I was craving. He was the escape I sought in a dark world.

Growing a little flustered under my eyes, he turned away from me to lay out the food he'd gotten from the picnic. Peeking into the basket, I wasn't surprised to notice the camera smuggled inside. I could recall very few occasions where I had seen him without it.

"You don't need to be so nervous Colin," I reassured him, putting a hand on his arm. He stilled slightly at the contact and I frowned, "Really."

"I'm sorry." He shuffled a little, casting his eyes to the lake. "I just – I've imagined going on a date with you countless times and I always thought that when this happened I'd know what to do and what to say. But I have no idea what I'm doing."

His words had rendered me silent. Was this a date? Salazar, I didn't even want to correct him and say that I hadn't thought of this as a date. I had simply thought of this as one of the days that I spent with him, talking and laughing to each other. Why was this considered a date when those others hadn't been? Unless, they'd been dates all along?

"There's no need to worry," I reassured him, brushing my internal conflict aside for a moment. When I was alone, then I could ponder further on my thoughts. For now, I was going to focus on Colin. "Just think of this as another day we spend together. Act like you normally do and don't bother forcing yourself to act like someone else."

"If you're sure?"

"Salazar," I muttered with a good-natured roll of my eyes. Merlin, this boy was making me lose my ice queen reputation. "Colin, what is wrong with you? You're acting like we've never spent any time together. You probably know me better than most of my house do so just relax. For me? Can you do that?"

He nodded, looking reassured by my words as he admitted, "It took so long to get you to go on this date with me and I didn't want to make you regret it."

"You talking like this is going to make me regret it," I muttered, snagging one of the strawberries from a plate and shoving the whole thing into his mouth before he could spout some other nonsense. "If you're going to keep talking rubbish then just eat."

Smiling around the strawberry, he reached out to take his hand in mine. Linking our fingers together, he brought our joined hands to his lap. I watched as he looked hesitantly down at our hands, trailing the fingers of his free hand along the back of the hand he was holding.

"Is this alright?" he asked quietly, not looking at me.

"I'd have hexed you if it wasn't," I answered truthfully, making him grin as he lifted his head to look at me.

What was it about this boy whose actions were so innocent that they made me feel like I was corrupting him by bringing him into my dark world? The boys in my year had lost their innocence long before their fifth year but here he was, with the same free smile. Maybe my being around him was wrong for him? He would only suffer more for 'daring' to associate himself with the daughter of a well-known death eater. Merlin forbid, if Voldemort won the war then he would probably be killed.

Salazar, my heart began to race at just the thought –

"You're thinking again," his voice broke into my thoughts as his free hand reached out to trail his fingertips across my cheek. I raised my eyes to his, forcing myself to give him a smile but all he did was frown at me. "What is it that's got you so worried?"

"It's nothing," I said forcefully and for once he looked like he was going to push the matter but I wouldn't let him.

Pressing forward, I took his lips in a small kiss and silenced him. Salazar what had I done?

* * *

 _SEVENTH YEAR_

My worst fears had proven correct. The entire castle had been plunged into darkness and the death eaters were the ones ruling it with an iron fist. I wasn't stupid; I saw the way the other houses had looked at me. They had expected Theo and I to follow in our father's footsteps – they had expected that for many members of our house. Traditionally, weren't Slytherins supposed to be the prejudiced house? The other houses would claim the same thing but they would not see that they themselves held prejudices towards the Slytherins. But of course, no one cared when it came to the snakes.

The Gryffindors had been the most surprised when members of Slytherin had protested to our entire house being locked in the dungeon at the onset of the battle. They had not believed that we would want to fight, that we would want to protect our home but what did it matter what they thought? What mattered was that I was not going to contribute to a world where people were killed because of their blood.

I hurried through the corridor which was quickly becoming rubble around me, wand braced by my side. We needed to be prepared for anything. Salazar, if one of the death eaters saw Theo or me aiming a curse at another death eater then a bounty would be placed on our heads. From the beginning, we were supposed to have been on their side and raising our wands against them would surely be seen as treachery.

Just as I turned the corridor, I heard someone shout "Crucio!"

I reacted before I had thought.

I saw the red light hurtling to one of the students who had managed to sneak back into the school. Casting a silent shield charm, I blocked the curse and hurried to the younger student, ready to give them a piece of my mind.

"Honestly," I hissed, eyes setting on the wand that had fallen to the student's side. "What were you going to do without a wand? And for that matter, you're bloody underage!"

"Actually," the wizard announced as he reached down to pick up his wand and let me see his face for the first time. "I'm of age now."

"Colin," I murmured, taking in his features.

He grinned at me as if we weren't in the middle of a war zone, as if my shield charm wasn't going to fall from the barrage of spells that was being aimed at it. No one had been more pleased than I had to know that he had been pulled out of school; he was going to be far safer at home then he was here. Theo had teased me that I missed my boyfriend, in a way to get me to smile a little, but all I had done was tell him that he wasn't my boyfriend. He wasn't my anything. Sure, after the first time we had kissed more, but we weren't dating. I wouldn't let him ask me and I certainly wasn't going to ask him myself.

"Godric, I've missed you," he breathed out, eyes narrowing on the cut on my upper cheek.

"It's from some flying shrapnel," I answered his unknown question, staring up at him as he brought a hand to my cheek.

"Get your mudblood hands off of her!" the death eater screamed as my shield finally dropped.

We turned instantly, wands drawn towards the death eater who stood across from us. His voice resonated in my mind, and I hesitated to look at his face, wanting to deny it for longer. But I couldn't. My eyes lowered to the wand held so tightly at his sight that his knuckles had turned white and recognised that wand in an instant. I couldn't deny it anymore.

"Father," I said quietly, forcing myself to bring my eyes to his face.

"Father?" Colin repeated, reeling from the revelation. "What do you mean _father_?"

"What do you think I mean?" I hissed from the corner of my mouth, deflecting the curse father hurled Colin's way. "Each family has skeletons in the closet, this just happens to be ours."

Father only grew more infuriated, raging because I was protecting something so unworthy. I watched the tip of his wand spark repeatedly as he shot spell after spell after us. Salazar, it was taking two of us to block him.

"Is this why you wouldn't go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked quietly, in between firing a spell at my father. "And why you told me to not even dream about dating you?"

"Is that what's important right now?" I asked incredulously, staring at him with wide eyes and missing the spell that was aimed my way. Colin deflected it.

"It's just nice to know you had a valid reason," he muttered with a hint of a smile.

"Of course I had a valid reason!" I was so outraged that I turned to face him when I really shouldn't have.

Time seemed to slow down as I watched Colin's eyes drift behind me towards my father. His eyes grew wide and then he was shoving me out of the way. I flew away from him, gasping in pain when I fell against a mound of rubble from one of the explosions. Hissing under my breath, I looked to my left arm where blood was seeping out of the cut I'd gotten from the fall.

Rising to my feet, my eyes sought out Colin and found him crumbled against the floor. My eyes went to my father who was approaching Colin's fallen form. I reacted before I thought, wand aimed at my father.

"Expelliarmus!"

* * *

My father, throughout my childhood, had always been a cruel withdrawn man so much so that Theo and I had always questioned whether he loved us. But, as I stared down at a slumbering Colin, I knew the answer to that question. The spell he had thrown towards me had been a simple _expelliarmus_ but the strength of the spell cast had made it red, easily confusable with the cruciatus _._ That only made me question whether Colin had believed he'd thrown himself in front of the cruciatus for me and if that _was_ what he thought, then what was wrong with him? Was he really so self-sacrificing?

The battle had long since ended and the grieving had gathered in the great hall. I had made a beeline for the hospital wing and Theo had followed along with me. Pomfrey checked over my wounds and then dismissed me but I had settled myself beside Colin's bed, waiting for him to wake up. Apparently, the curse had made him fly backwards but he had hit his head, knocking him out. Surely, he should have woken up by now?

Theo was seated beside me, looking a little tense as he fidgeted with his hands. I turned my eyes away from Colin, looking to my brother.

"What's the matter Theo?" I laid a gentle hand on his knee.

"The auror's are asking for permission to search our Manor," he admitted, raking a hand through his hair, "they're looking for evidence against dad."

"Grant them the permission then," I responded with a heavy heart. "It's the right thing to do."

"I know," he sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "Salazar, when did we gain Gryffindor morals?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't like it."

We shared a secret smile, "Me neither."

Theo rose to his feet, my hand falling from his knee. "I should go and talk to the aurors. The sooner they round everyone up, the sooner we can put this all behind us and move on."

"It'll take a lot more than that Theo," I whispered, looking back to the slumbering boy. "Our entire childhood was permeated with dark magic. We won't be able to move on so quickly. But we can try."

Theo was silent for a while. There was no sound of footsteps so I assumed that he was still standing beside me. He reached out to set a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it.

"He's an alright guy, you know," he admitted begrudgingly, making me look questioningly up at him. He gestured to Colin, "Your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," I muttered with a roll of my eyes.

Theo said nothing, reaching out to ruffle my hair. I couldn't find it in me to be mad. Instead my eyes followed him as he made his way out of the hospital wing before returning to Colin. How much longer would he be asleep? Unless, there was something wrong with him that Pomfrey was keeping hidden from me? No – she wouldn't do that.

Colin, as if knowing where my thoughts were headed, opened his eyes. He always _had_ had an uncanny knack for knowing when I was beginning to worry. And just like always, he was there to reassure me. The first thing he did upon seeing me, was bring one of his hands out from beneath the blanket to hold out to me.

I took it between both of mine as he asked, "What's the damage?"

"Nothing major," I reassured him with a smile and pressed a kiss to his hand. His eyebrows rose in surprise but there was no way that he was currently feeling more surprised than I was. "Pomfrey said that you're fine. She's set aside some potions for you to drink."

Colin's eyes strayed to the three potion vials lying innocently on the tray beside his bed and he made a face. "I'll have them in a bit." He moved to sit up, stopping midmotion when I glared at him, "What happened during the battle? Did I sleep through it?"

"It didn't last long after you passed out," I admitted quietly, "Harry managed to finish Voldemort off and after that, it was all done. The death eaters ran away as soon as they received news that he'd fallen."

Colin, biting on his bottom lip, asked hesitantly, "Your father –"

"Ran away." He nodded at my curt tone, knowing to change the subject. Leaning his head back against the pillow, he stared up at the ceiling. "It's all really over."

Almost, I thought as I wished that I could be as innocent as he was. The truth was that this war was far from over but I wasn't going to be the one to crush his hope.

Clearing my throat, I decided to address the question that had been driving me insane, "When you dove in front of the curse for me, what did you think it was?"

He frowned, not understanding. "It was red, so the cruciatus?"

"You stupid Gryffindor!" I leapt to my feet, staring down at him incredulously, "Firstly it was a disarming charm and secondly, why would you jump in front of the bloody cruciatus?"

He shuffled under my eyes, growing flustered as he muttered, "Well you're my girl, aren't you?"

My mouth dropped open in shock as I wondered how to respond to that. I settled for dropping back into my chair and narrowing my eyes at him.

"I don't remember being put on sale." I had intended for the words to come out with more venom and when they didn't, Colin grinned at me. Lifting my nose in the air, I turned my head away from him to hide my blush.

Salazar, I was becoming a Gryffindor.


	2. Epilogue

_2 YEARS LATER_

Colin was finally graduating and he'd invited me to come to the graduation ceremony but I'd been called out of the country for work. He had pouted when he'd found out, and had immediately wondered if I had reverted back to being distant with him. But when had I ever stopped being distant? I knew that he had a problem with my issues with emotional intimacy but I thought that I was working on it? Right? I was certainly getting better at it. Besides, I'd had a legitimate reason.

He had eventually accepted that I had a real excuse and had told me that I'd have to make it up to him when he asked for something else. That something else turned out to be meeting his muggle parents. Salazar, I had no reason to turn him down.

Theo had laughed hysterically when I'd asked him for advice and hadn't given me any good advice. But then again why would he have any reasonable advice? Neither of us had ever spoken to a muggle before and Merlin, we'd been raised to despise them. Not that we did any longer but we didn't exactly have the skills to socialise with them.

Ever since Colin had extended the invitation towards me, I had found myself constantly worrying about meeting his parents. And Merlin, all I could think was that Theo was right when he claimed that Colin was turning me into a Hufflepuff, or worse a Gryffindor.

I was _not_ cut out for this.

Burrowing my head in my hands, I let out a deep breath and tried to steady myself. Where was the Slytherin confidence when I needed it? I could call it when I was standing before the Wizengamot and fighting someone's case but I couldn't do it over something as simple as meeting my maybe-boyfriend's parents?

There was a knock on my bedroom door which made me lift my head from my hands. Rising to my feet, I opened it to find Theo stood on the other side. He raised an eyebrow, seeing just how anxious I was becoming.

"Your boyfriend's here," he said, as I walked back into my room to grab my wand and stashing it in my bag.

"He's not my," I paused, looking back to Theo and rolling my eyes, "Salazar, who am I kidding?"

"Would you relax?" Theo rolled his eyes as I moved around my bedroom and fiddled with random things to try and drag out time. "They're muggles – what's the worst they could do?"

"I'm more concerned about the fact that we don't know _how_ to communicate with the muggles," I muttered, leaving my bedroom.

"It can't be that bad?" Theo tried and failed to sound reassuring as we walked back down the stairs and towards the sitting room where Colin was stood in front of the fireplace.

He spotted us as we walked down the stairs and grinned when we made eye contact. Walking towards the staircase, Colin held out a hand to take my bag and I rolled my eyes but handed it over to him. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I went to his side and watched as Theo narrowed his eyes at Colin.

"Do I need to tell you when she needs to be home by, Creevey?" Theo raised an eyebrow at the younger boy.

"By 11 at the latest," Colin replied, already used to the strict curfew Theo had in place.

Merlin, I always told Theo off whenever he set a time for me to be home by but Theo would only ignore me and look back to Colin. And Colin well, he had long since stopped being scared of Theo but still wanted to impress him. He didn't listen to me when I told him that there was no need to impress Theo and instead explained it as something to do with Gryffindor honour. I had given up protesting then.

"Should we get going?" Colin asked, taking my hand and leading me towards the fireplace.

"Sure," I said quietly and Colin frowned, hearing just how unenthusiastic I was about tonight.

He stopped in front of the fireplace, letting go of my hand to push the corners of my lips up into a false smile. "What's got you so worried now?"

I hesitated, biting on my bottom lip, "What have you told your parents about me?"

"Everything," he said truthfully.

"Everything?" I blanched. Merlin knows how his parents reacted to hearing that my father had been one of those lunatics that sought to kill his son. "Even the stuff about my father?"

He knew instantly what I meant, tucking some of my hair behind my ear as he smiled reassuringly at me, "They love you already. You _did_ save my life in the battle of Hogwarts. Who knows what would have happened if you weren't there."

"I just don't know how to talk to muggles," I admitted as Colin stepped out to take a handful of floo powder.

"You'll be fine," he assured me, "Besides I'll be there the entire time to help you through it all."

With a final reassuring smile, Colin stepped into the fireplace before me and announced his address. Seconds later, when the floo was ready again, I stepped in and hesitated. The last thing I saw as the flames licked at my shoes was the comforting smile Theo sent me.

I emerged out of the floo network on the other side, stepping out and looking around the muggle household. Colin was there in an instant, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"I was beginning to think that I'd have to floo back to bring you with me," he teased quietly as I looked at the other people in the room.

I had met his younger brother whilst at Hogwarts but his parents were still strangers to me. His mother was smiling welcomingly at me and the etiquette lessons that were a staple of my upbringing had me smiling back at her. Colin carried out the introductions and his parents left the room as they went to set the table. His father walked out of the room as he spoke about how he'd followed the proceedings of the last case I'd fought.

I tried not to sag against Colin in relief, but I did so anyway. Dennis chuckled at the action, shaking his head as he admitted, "Dad's been following your cases – he finds the legal system really interesting."

"Following my cases?" I repeated curiously.

"He was especially interested in your last case – the one to repeal unicorn hunting legislation."

"Oh."

The two brothers shared a grin, "Dad thinks you're like some champion for those without a voice."

"How very un-Slytherin," Colin teased, nudging me.

"Godric," I muttered, growing horrified in the next second. My hand rose to my mouth, and I stared between the two brothers who were laughing at my blunder. I hissed, "Do _not_ mention it to anyone or I'll hex the living daylights out of the pair of you."

Colin struggled to contain his laughter and I shoved at him, "This is all _your_ fault, Creevey!"


End file.
